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Needed: Streamlining, Consolidating, Decluttering

After Lia was born and I regained my zest for normal life (vs. ‘I have a newborn’ life), I spent months decluttering and organizing and cleaning every nook and cranny of my little cottage.

After Amelie was born, I wasn’t interested in the house, but threw myself into educational endeavors for my 2 year old…researching Montessori, getting a child-sized table and chairs, gathering learning materials and establishing a ‘school’ collection.

I had thought that with all the cleaning and organizing and general nesting I did while pregnant with Levi, I would be ready to move on to something else post-birth. Guess not.

I have a deep need for streamlining, consolidating my activities and my house, making things easier and simpler. Particularly simpler. I have this feeling that if I can just get rid of enough stuff, I will find the peace I’m craving. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel like things are just on the verge of spinning out of control. Maybe then this feeling of chaos would be smoothed into order. Maybe then the very slight feeling of panic that comes and goes would subside completely.

You know that my theory is that when there are things that are out of my control (and when there are three children, one of which is an infant, things often seem more on the side of chaos), I can counteract them by organizing my house.

So it’s begun. I started rearranging Friday. With a fussy baby, that means I shoved furniture around for 15 minutes. Luckily, rocking and walking a fussy baby allows for many minutes to contemplate exactly what to do the moment my arms are free. For however many more moments my arms are free.

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5 thoughts on “Needed: Streamlining, Consolidating, Decluttering”

I can’t help but comment on this posting. While I only have two of my own… I take care of a 3 month old little girl 9 hours a day 5 days a week.
I’m in the same desperate need to declutter, organize, and stream line. In fact, that’s what I was doing until I sat down to nurse my own 13 month old baby.
If you have any wonderful ideas on how to accomplish that, I’d love to hear them.

Girls! Lots of advice. You should see my house. I have gotten rid of most of the large bags of yarn lovingly gifted to me. Uncounted child/baby afghans, crocheted for the Alee shelter for battered women, over 50 sweaters knit for Guideposts – recently had to buy yarn to relieve the panic of no more yarn!
Dear husband – Grandpa – has numerous cameras, projectors, etc. (lots of the etc.) from his years of teaching Audio-visual Education to beginning educators. The young and computerized don’t even recognize much less know what to do with such antiques.
The walls are lined with books from my ‘kiddie lit’ collection from years of raising family and teaching both children and teachers to tomes on counseling and theology, to cookbooks (I even have most of it Dewey classified) – even have a bookcase in the bathroom.
Fabric – Yup. For years the urge to sew was assuaged by a trip to Joanne’s of a counterpart. Besides a drawer full of bits and pieces there are boxes of yardage up in the closet.
Even though we have been married over 60 years it is just under 30 years since our last ‘leave it all there and fly home’. Even though in the early days of marriage we often moved more than once a year – had moved twice before Carol was 6-weeks old – we’ve been in this house over 20 years.

SO when you get your clean, neat, a place for everything and everything in its place, organized and sterile dwelling accomplished; it will be just that, a picture perfect show-piece.

I’m not advocating chaos. Children (all family members) need to be taught to pick up and put away. For now enjoy your comfortable, lived-in home. Too soon it will be too quiet, too neat – lonely.

I often feel the same way you have expressed yourself as feeling in this post, Leilani. It’s beginning to feel better, I think. I am trying hard to be happy with just getting the essentials done in a day and being exstatic when I accomplish something bigger than this! 🙂
I really would be interested in hearing more about the Montessouri method and what you do for your learning school time. Perhaps you have a past post?

hmm… well, streamlining the morning.. making it less stressful to get everyone going.
i’d just love to hear any and all of your ideas. I love to organize/have things organized and like to hear other peoples ideas on how they do this, or how they’d like to do this!

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This blog explores Leilani's ongoing quest to find meaning (or humor, if the meaning escapes) in the daily adventure of home life she shares with four children and her husband. Some of what you'll find here reflects real life, some of it only exists in Leilani's brain.